The markets opened mixed with the Dow slipping 17 points to 19,870 as investors await corporate earnings news. Nasdaq added 2 points to 5,534.

On the upside

GenVec (Nasdaq: GNVC) entered an exclusive option agreement with Washington University in St. Louis to license intellectual property and technology related to gene editing and pulmonary endothelial cell targeting.

Illumina (Nasdaq: ILMN) introduced the next generation NovaSeq Series sequencer.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (NYSE: VRX) reported positive results from a second confirmatory pivotal Phase 3 study of IDP-118 to treat psoriasis.

On the downside

hhgregg (NYSE: HGG) reported sharply lower preliminary third quarter revenue.

The Food and Drug Administration limited the labeling of Egalet's (Nasdaq: EGLT) newly approved long-acting opioid painkiller Arymo ER.

The Williams Cos. (NYSE: WMB) priced its public offering of 65 million common shares at the discounted price of $29 per share.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 7 to 5 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index held steady at 2,268. Bitcoin added $2 to $881.